FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD28 → Save Zoe

Save Zoe

By xezko

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness284
Mood613.61
Audio783.57
Graphics794.11
Overall1123.48
Fun1533.19
Humor2902.26
Theme2942.68
Innovation3272.69

Comments

ziomorti 2013-12-16 13:42

Nice graphics and gameplay, still I feel like the theme was a bit "forced" in.
Great job overall!

xezko 2013-12-16 14:00

Thanks!
And yeah, I went a bit off rails with the theme, haha.

feizenbara 2013-12-16 14:53

Great graphics and feel.
I think you only should tune down the difficulty at start a little bit (the controls are not very accurate, I tend to fall of platforms often).

nicso 2013-12-16 14:56

really nice, awesome graphics. Controls could get a little more love ;)

doubstract 2013-12-16 14:57

Inspiring graphics

iansnyder 2013-12-16 14:58

Great artwork and music! I got through the first stage, then it feels like it just resets, but I don't know if that's moving to a new stage. I thought Zoe's hitbox wasn't too clear, either. Cool entry, I'd like to see it polished :)

somepx 2013-12-16 15:34

Nice graphic and gameplay twist! Bravo :D

xezko 2013-12-16 15:40

@felzenbara: Yes, the general balance of the game was something that got really overlooked with so little time to develop it, and giving that while I developed it I got progressively better at it, it got really hard to be able to tell what was easy and what was not. That said, I plan to polish this up in the next couple of weeks and release a better version in the future.

@nicso: haha yes, I got used to them that I forgot how bad they are! That's something I should polish up too.

@Doubstract: Thank you!

@Ian_snyder: Thanks! the musician is a goddamn genius, I was so lucky to be able to work with him for this!
The level works like this: There's only one level and it's randomly generated every time the level resets. If you don't reach the end of the level (the bear dies or you fall to the water), it resets (the layout changes). "You only get one chance to make it through this version of the level."

I do plan to polish it in the following weeks!

----

Thank you all for your comments, it means a lot to me!

tsumei 2013-12-16 16:06

I actually like the story quite a lot. The ending scene was powerful in it's own little way for me. But I have always been the type to be sentimental about my teddybear.

Mechanically I think it is a very sound game. It doesn't have many mechanics of course, but what it has is very polished, the animations are nice, and the storyboard sequence in the beginning is a nice touch.
I would like a volume slider or a mute button though, as with many LD games the volume is default quite loud.

xezko 2013-12-16 16:39

@Tsumel:
You won't believe how happy your comment made me.
I have a big silly smile all across my face right now, haha!

I will see what I can do with the volume for the polished version!

ossah 2013-12-16 18:19

Really liked this. Game music was great! Loved the art style and the story intro. Animations and gameplay were nice too.
Fun to play!

hyoga-3d 2013-12-16 23:32

Nice game, and is's true, womens let everythings better, when you are alone the world is not so nice.

wisegamer 2013-12-17 14:45

A very nice and cute game. Is Zoe okay? :(

xezko 2013-12-17 15:03

@ossah: Thank you!

@Hyoga-3D: I'm happy people are able to find their own meanings to what I made. That's awesome!

@WiseGAMER: Thanks! Well, get to the ending to find out! remember there are two possible endings! :D

yapshuter63 2013-12-18 02:31

Cool! My sister's name is zoe :P

zkenshin 2013-12-18 02:39

Quite adorable, fun game, great job (:

cniangel 2013-12-18 03:23

Great game. Loved the graphics/gameplay/audio. The game itself fits the theme well and it was very enjoyable. Good work you two.

nyrrrr 2013-12-18 03:24

great job! I dig the art and the audio is nice :)
And I like that it has 2 endings^^

aneeslol 2013-12-18 03:30

Very nice graphics/audio, and the controls were really tight. Would love to see this be extended!

d__adee 2013-12-18 03:32

The game is pretty hard. xD Are the platforms random though? There are times that it's unreachable. I dig the pixel arts and animation, really nice. The idea is pretty cool too! Good job! :D

radnen 2013-12-18 04:02

Great game, overall. I find it hard to play with the control scheme, but that's me. It has wonderful art and sound.

xezko 2013-12-18 04:21

@yapshuter63: Haha, my sister's name is Zoe too!

@zkenshin: Thank you!

@CNIAngel: Thanks, was fun seeing you play it on stream! I learn so much about design just by watching how people play it.

@nyrrrr: I should probably put that it has 2 endings on bold letters or something, many people keep missing it, haha. Thanks!

@aneeslol: It will be extended! keep tuned for updates!

@d__adee: Haha, It's kinda hard, isn't it? Yes the platforms are randomized everytime you respawn. However! They're not entirely random, it's done in such a way as to ensure you're always able to reach em. They might be hard to reach but totally possible if you time your second jump properly!
Thanks!

@Radnen: Thank you! Yes, the musician is a genius!

loggs2 2013-12-18 04:27

I really liked the graphic style, both in game and in the cut-scene. The gameplay was fun and it was all warm and fuzzy. :D

ehtd 2013-12-18 05:30

Nice graphics. I once thought of the same theme, but instead of a bear, it was a corgi dog. For me, the best looking part is when the girl was defeated and you were in a sort of night look.

pietro-ferrantelli 2013-12-18 06:25

Really nice game, congratulations.

jejeboy 2013-12-18 06:33

Great game. I love the art style.

xezko 2013-12-18 14:02

Thank you guys!

Being acknowledged for a couple of day's hard work in this fashion really makes me feel accomplished.

I'm writing a post-mortem blog right now, so if you're interested, keep an eye out for it!

drludos 2013-12-18 17:08

Woaw, I love this game. The gameplay is nice, the graphics too, and the "world-shifting" mechanics is impressing. But more than anything else, I find this game very touching... The ending screen and the music literraly tocuhed my heart.

Thanks for this unique experience!

xezko 2013-12-18 22:54

@drludos: And thank you for your comment! Knowing that what did can have such an effect on people really blows my mind and makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

netguy204 2013-12-19 02:56

Very emotionally effective setting/theming. Good use of the the theme word also. Music and graphics were wonderful. I felt genuinely sad when Zoe was killed. I'd stop and kneel and just wish she'd come back. Very emotive and well done.

I thought the level design (or perhaps generation) was pretty dull. It didn't really add or take away anything from the game so I'll call it more of a missed opportunity than a wart.

hypermagical 2013-12-19 03:16

I really like that you can keep going after you lose Zoe; the fact that it doesn't immediately lose the game makes it more emotional somehow.

I'm rubbish at it and can't last more than a minute or so, but I like it.

mrtedders 2013-12-19 03:24

Wow, well done! When she got hit off this game took a very interesting turn and i loved it!

sclark39 2013-12-19 07:07

Great music and graphics. I probably would have enjoyed the gameplay if it was focused less on the pillar-jump platforming and more on avoiding the enemies while my human takes them down. I didn't understand the point of allowing the game to continue after you lose your human, as at that point it seems the optimal decision is to just kill yourself and restart.

the 2013-12-19 11:50

This thing is good.

xezko 2013-12-19 14:14

@netguy204: Thank you! Yes, I agree the level generation was not good enough, it's probably the thing I want to polish the most for the next release.

@Hypermagical: Thanks! Difficulty is one of the things I want to fine tune a lot more, so people across all skill levels can enjoy it.

@MrTedders: Thank you!

@sclark39: Yes, I believe the mechanics of the girl weren't good enough, they were supposed to be the main focus of the game and didn't end up that way. The point of allowing the game to continue? Well, I talk in-dept about that in the post-mortem. There was a reason and an idea behind it. That doesn't mean it accomplishes its purpose, though! Will try to work more on those things for the polished version. Thanks!

@the: this comment is good.

harsanalif 2013-12-19 23:36

Love the image, the difficulty, and music! Good job!

evilseanbot 2013-12-20 20:44

I loved the little world of the game, got chills at the end.

xezko 2013-12-21 01:49

@harsanalif: Thank you!

@evilseanbot: It makes me happy that my game was able to do such a thing, thank you!

deadlypear 2013-12-22 00:24

So... I suck at platformers with the keyboard... slipping all over the place. Overall beautiful pixel art graphics and animation and nice soundtrack. Nice concept and separation of bear and girl (two independent health bars).

greytram 2013-12-26 10:56

Great game! Love the intro!
Great character design, graphics are cute, animation is impressive and music is entertaining! I like the switch between light/dark levels and the 'double jump' feature is a very nice idea!
Couldn't complete the level (a bit too difficult for me, a side effect of procedural level generation maybe?).
Well done overall!

xezko 2013-12-27 04:09

Thank you guys!
The difficulty is the result of me getting better and better at it while I was making it and balancing around that (which is a bad thing to do!). Putting a neat difficulty curve in is one of my priorities for the polished version I'm working on right now.

van-noctar 2013-12-28 23:31

Yeah! great gameplay! A little difficult...

dangerpenguin 2014-01-06 16:11

Really nice. I liked the concept that the girl throws for you. My only question, WHAT IS THE PINK STUFF!

xezko 2014-01-07 00:42

@van noctar: Thank you!

@DangerPenguin: Thanks! I made it and I have no idea what it is, but a friend of mine said it was Kool-Aid. So I guess it's Kool-Aid!